Posted on 06/10/2008 1:51:52 PM PDT by blam
Stone Age axe holds hidden human figure
Published: 10 Jun 08 17:37 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/12344/
An artifact from the Stone Age has been hiding in the plain sight of museum visitors and researches in western Sweden.
But no one noticed until archaeologist Bengt Nordqvist suddenly discovered the form of a human body on a stone axe.
The axe has been in the museums collection for more than 100 years. Anyone could have found the image, said Nordqvist, who had a hard time containing his excitement.
The stone axe was found in connection with the building of a road near Stala in the municipality of Orsut in Bohuslän region of western Sweden in 1875.
The ancient tool is a prized archaeological in and of itself, and has been seen by a considerable of visitors to the Gothenburg City Museum and the Stone Age Museum in Orust.
The axe is about 9,000 years old and in the shape of a cross.
But it is the inscribed image of a headless human figure which has turned the axe into a sensation.
Similar artifacts found earlier havent been so old.
It is seldom we come so close to figurative shapes of Stone Age people. OF we have a single national treasure in the country from this period, it is this object, said Nordqvist, who is an expert on the Stone Age from the Swedish National Heritage Board.
The figures missing head could be explained by wear, but the image could also be a symbolic picture of a shaman or medicine man in a trance during which his mind in another place, according to Nordqvist.
The axe and other artifacts are included in an exhibit Orusts hidden treasures (Orust glömda skatter) which opens at the Stone Age Museum in Orust next week.
GGG Ping.
Maybe if it was on a piece of burnt toast I could see it better....but I’m not seeing it.
Instructions for use?
Or could it be the ax was used for decapitation?
Instructions for use?
(I hate it when I type bad HTML tags...)
Nah... It pre-dates Islam.
Oh they got it all wrong. The carving identifies what the axe was used for. And gee.. the carving has no head.
...the inscribed image of a headless human figure ...
... but the image could also be a symbolic picture of a shaman or medicine man in a trance during which his mind in another place, according to Nordqvist.
Ah, let me speculate. Maybe the shaman saw the coming of Christianity followed by the arrival of Islam.
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks Blam. 9000 year old headsman's axe? |
||
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
hee hee hee... now THAT’s funny...
Looks like a headless chicken to me.
...or it could mean nothing.
WinH are archaeology majors going to be required to take...and PASS...a couple of photography classes?
I swear, next to journalists, they are the world’s worst, when they even do bother to point & click.
:’D Some of them could use a little more flash in their bulb. ;’)
I dunno...the right hand of the guy in the picture is a little disturbing.......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.